263Rd COMBAT COMMUNICATIONS SQUADRON
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263rd COMBAT COMMUNICATIONS SQUADRON MISSION LINEAGE 263rd Communications Squadron (Operations), organized Oct 1952 Federally recognized, 3 Nov 1952 Redesignated 263rd Communications Squadron (Tributary Teams), 1 Oct 1960 Redesignated 263rd Mobile communications Squadron (Contingency), 16 Mar 1968 Redesignated 263rd Combat Communications Squadron Redesignated 263rd Combat Information Systems Squadron, 1 Jul 1985 Redesignated 263rd Combat Communications Squadron, 1 Oct 1986 STATIONS Wadesboro, NC Badin ANGS, Albermarle, NC, 1 April 1961 ASSIGNMENTS 281st Combat Communications Group COMMANDERS 1LT John K. Tyson, 1952 Cpt Frank W. Vanderbeck, 1954 LTC Oroon D. Palmer, 1955 LTC Kenneth G. Tilley, 1971 LTC Frederick R. Keith, Jr., 1976 LTC Victor M. Lefkowitz, 1986 LTC Robert M. Stonestreet, 1991 LTC David M. Smith, 1994 Maj Gary T. Ciampa, 2000 LTC Joseph B. Simmons II, 2002 LTC Robert B. McManis, 2006 HONORS Service Streamers Campaign Streamers Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamers Decorations Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1971-72 1980-81 1983-85 1 Jan 1987-30 Dec 1988 1993-94 EMBLEM MOTTO OPERATIONS The Wadesboro and Badin detachments of the NCANG were reorganized op 8 October 1952 into one composite squadron which was redesignated the 263rd Communications Squadron (Operations). The mission of the unit was to provide necessary communications support to any Air Force organization to which it may be attached or assigned. Headquarters for the unit were established at Wadesboro, with a detachment located at Badin. Both locations occupied the new facilities that had been under construction when the 118th AC&W was activated The 263rd Communications Squadron received Federal recognition on 3 November 1952. First Lieutenant John K. Tyson was appointed commander and several officers and former members of the 118th enlisted in the new squadron. First Lieutenant Robert H. Casper was selected as officer-in-charge of the Badin detachment. Master Sergeants Walter H. Waddell and Donald B. Carrick were re-employed as full-time technicians at their respective locations. The 263rd Communications Squadron (Operations), organized during 8 October 1952, Headquarters in Wadesboro, NC and Detachment one in Badin, NC. 8 officers and 100 airmen. NCANG officers and airmen formerly assigned to Detachment "B" (Wadesboro) and Detachment "C" (Badin), 118th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, NCANG, were reassigned/enlisted in the new 263rd Communications Squadron (Operations), NCANG. The mission of the unit was to provide necessary communications support to any Air Force organization to which it may be attached or assigned. Headquarters for the unit were established at Wadesboro, with a detachment located at Badin. Both locations occupied the new facilities that had been under construction when the 118th AC&W was activated In 1953, the first annual training for the new 263rd Communications Squadron was conducted at Robins Air Force Base. GA. Three officers and forty-nine enlisted personnel participated in the June deployment. Badin's 263rd Communications Squadron became a subordinate unit of the 251st Communications Group, Springfield, OH, on 29 January 1954. During July 1954, the 263rd again conducted annual training at Robins AFB, Georgia. Four officers and eighty-two airmen were in attendance. Personnel of the 263rd were called to state active duty to provide disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Hazel in October 1954. The 263rd CS (OP) was reorganized effective 1 June 1955, in accordance with Tables of Organization Number 1-2233, Department of the Air Force, dated 1 June 1955. Authorized strength: 8 officers, 0 warrant officers and 100 airmen. 263rd personnel were called to state active duty from 13 through 20 August 1955 to provide disaster relief for victims of Hurricanes Connie and Diane. Construction was completed at the Wadesboro site to almost double the size of the building due to increases in personnel and equipment. 1955 was the last year that unit training assemblies were held on week nights. Beginning with 1956, unit training assemblies were scheduled for one weekend each month with UTA schedules from 0800 to 1700 on Saturdays and Sundays. 1956 Annual Training of the 263rd was conducted at Donaldson AFB, Greenville, SC and at North Field, SC. This was the first exercise conducted by the 263rd under total field, bare bones, conditions. A home station annual training exercise was conducted at the 263rd's Wadesboro installation in July 1957. Combined units of the North Carolina Air National Guard relieved units of the North Carolina Army National Guard who had been performing state active duty during a bitter textile plant strike in Henderson, NC. Three hundred Air Guardsmen were called to State Active Duty beginning 7 June 1959, to maintain law and order at the Harriet-Henderson textile mills in Henderson, NC where a bitter and bloody strike had been going on for several months. These Air Guardsmen were under the command of Colonel Henry C. Byrd, Jr. of Charlotte. The strike ended when NCANG personnel and State Bureau of Investigation personnel caught several leaders of the strike as they attempted to blow up the mill's power station. In July, the 263rd's annual training was conducted at Kickapoo State Park, Danville, Illinois. Unit personnel performed the training under field conditions. The mission was basically the same as in 1958, to provide radio and teletype communications. , this year the unit supported the 115th AC&W Squadron from Dothan, Alabama. Unit personnel logged over 1500 road miles to convoy equipment to and from the annual training location. The 263rd Communications Squadron (Operations) was redesignated 263rd Communications Squadron (Tributary Teams), effective 1 October 1960, without change of stations (Wadesboro and Badin, NC) or date of Federal Recognition. New authorized strength: 11 officers and 218 airmen. This resulted in an increase in strength of 3 officers and 118 airmen. Operating space immediately became a problem. A decision was made by the Adjutant General of North Carolina. Major General Claude T. Bowers, to relocate the headquarters from Wadesboro to Badin. Funds were appropriated for an addition to the Badin facility to include construction of a motor vehicle repair shop. Gaining Command: Air Force Communications Service. The 251st Communications Group, Ohio ANG, was the parent group for mobilization and training purposes.4. The 263rd Communications Squadron (Tributary Teams) ceased operations at Wadesboro, NC, 31 March 1961, and opened for business at Badin, North Carolina, effective 0001 hours, 1 April 1961. On 31 March 1961 the official order was signed changing the headquarters to Badin and designating Wadesboro as a detachment. Major O. D. Palmer, the commander of the unit since July 1955, was employed full-time to fill the position of "Detachment Commander" for the 263rd. Communications tributary teams were deployed to McConnell AFB and Forbes AFB in Kansas, with additional personnel deployed to Richard Gebaur AFB and Whiteman AFB in Missouri for annual field training exercises. Squadron headquarters personnel performed training at Scott AFB, Illinois. In October, the 263rd was put on "alert" for the Cuban Missile Crisis. equipment was prepared for movement; a few days later the alert was canceled. The 263 MCS participated in exercise "Long Haul II" 13-27 July 1963. The main body trained at Fort Campbell, KY, with tributary teams deployed to Blytheville AFB, AR; Dobbins AFB, GA and McGhee Tyson AFS, Alcoa, TN. 263rd personnel were ordered to state active duty to search for a missing child in the Badin vicinity on 16 March. A modern food service facility was approved for the Badin installation in 1966. An additional wing to the original structure was added to include a kitchen and dining area. The new dining area was designed for joint use as an assembly room. Portable partitions for six much needed classrooms were installed. The project was completed in October 1966. Personnel of the 263 MCS participated in exercise "Ready Answer" for field training in 1966. In conjunction with other units of the 251st Communications Group, unit personnel provided a communication network which extended over the central United States from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. The main body of personnel and equipment were located at Fort Chafee, AR, with tributary teams at Keesler AFB, MS; Brookley AFB, AL; Maxwell AFB, AL and Tinker AFB, OK. In 1967, the 263rd deployed to Bakalar AFB, Columbus, IN, but unlike the deployment of 1965, personnel and equipment were housed in a "tent city". Tributary teams were deployed to Hulman Field, IN; Springfield-Beckley Airport, OH; Baer Field, IN; Toledo Airport, Toledo, OH; Lambert Field, MO; Altus AFB, OK and Peoria Airport, IL. The unit was redesignated the 263rd Mobile Communications Squadron (Contingency) on 16 March 1968 and assigned to the 251st Mobile Communications Group, Ohio ANG. Authorized strength: 11 officers and 174 airmen. During the period 13-27 July 1968, personnel of the 263 MCS participated in exercise "Guard Strike II" with the primary operations site located at Glenview Naval Air Station, IL. Tributary teams were located at Traux Field, Madison, WI; Duluth, MN; Springfield, IL and in Ohio. The 263rd was ordered to state active duty from 17 - 24 February 1969 to provide disaster relief and aid to residents of Anson County, NC. The county was stricken with major power outages resulting from a severe ice storm. Unit personnel provided and operated power generators to dairy farmers to operate milking machines. Power was also provided to public facilities, rural schools, well pumps and freezer units. Power in some areas had been off for several days and food in freezers had begun to thaw. During the period 19 July - 2 August the majority of unit personnel participated in home station annual training at Badin, with several teams deployed to the Wadesboro facility. Specialized training was given to some unit personnel who were deployed during this time period to Andrew s AFB, MD and Pope AFB, NC.